Happy New Year from Darfur.....

Well we didn’t receive a white Christmas here in Darfur but I have to say we made the best of it. My OIC was kind enough to let me spend the day at Zam Zam with my Canadian Contingent.  I was able to sleep in till 0800hrs (I haven’t been able to do that since the middle of October) and when I walked into our kitchen tent there were stockings hanging from the ceiling and presents underneath our Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  It actually felt like Christmas and we ended up decorating the place which you will see in some of my photos.  I spent the day preparing our Christmas dinner for our guests from Burkina Faso, Gambia, Egypt and Nepal (ok I helped Jason with the cooking….I know many of you probably raised an eyebrow or two when you thought I cooked the Christmas dinner).  We had to have an early dinner as our guests had to be back in their residence before the 1900hr curfew.    It was a wonderful time and a Christmas I will never forget….it was also my first Christmas where we sat outside in the sun to eat dinner.  My friend Dilli from Nepal is Hindu and never celebrated Christmas before.  He got right into the festivities and loved wearing the Santa hat….he was the life of the party.  After our guests left we opened up our presents which consisted of goodies like hot chocolate, toothbrushes and cans of tuna (doesn’t that sound exciting?).  Our gold bags did not arrive in time for Christmas so we had to wait till the 26^th to open our boxes from home.  I guess you could say we had a second Christmas on Boxing Day and I want to thank all of you for the gifts and cards that you sent me.  I appreciate you taking the time to put these gifts together and to think of me over the holiday season.

Waking up Christmas morning in Zam Zam.  To our surprise Santa (Jason) was able to make a stop over in El Fasher.

All the stockings were hung by the chimney (ok let's be honest they were hung by the hotplate)  with care.

Our friend Dilli who is a Police Advisor from Nepal got right into the Christmas spirit.    

Jack serving our guests Christmas dinner....you guessed it.....chicken!!!

Christmas photo with our UNAMID family

Chef Cheney sporting his new outfit

We could not forget our Rwandan Military Protection Force at Christmas.  They do such a wonderful job keeping us safe within out Zam Zam camp.  We had to give them a Christmas treat.

We even decorated the outside of our kitchen tent

I finally had the chance to go on my first inspection outside of El-Fasher on December 27^th to the 30^th.  I travelled with one of my colleagues to the farthest Team Site in South Darfur called Graida. From El- Fasher this team site would only take about 1 hour by plane however it took us two days to get there.  We took a small plane to a town called Nyala.  Stayed overnight in the UNAMID guest house and then boarded a UNAMID Russian helicopter the next morning to the Team Site.   When we flew into Graida I could see the UNAMID Protection Force surrounding a dirt field right beside their camp.  They were keeping all the children back from running to the helicopter.  When we landed a convoy of vehicles pulled up to greet us. I felt like a celebrity.  We were escorted into the compound and began our inspection. 





The Police Advisors were so welcoming and accommodating.  I spent one night there and all I can say is that I am very lucky that the Canadian Forces are allowing me to reside in their facilities. The Jordanians invited us for dinner at their residence in the village.  The residence has no electricity so we ate outside on the ground.  We had another fine meal of goat and chicken (it was delicious). 



The next day we went on patrol to 2 IDP camps and we also visited a primary school in one of the camps.  There are 2042 children that attend this school.   As we sat in a meeting with the head master and teachers you could hear the children singing and reciting what they had just learnt in class.  It was wonderful.  However, the classrooms were crowded and the children have no desks or chairs to sit on.  They all have to sit on the dirt floors. When I was outside of the school many of the children came to greet us.  It was rather funny because the children did not know how to take me.  I think they thought I was a ghost. Many of the children were shaking hands with the other Police Advisors from Africa but when I extended my hand the children screamed and ran away.  Eventually one little boy was brave enough to come up to me and take a quick poke at my arm.  When he realized that nothing was going to happen to him he decided to shake my hand.  At that point all the children wanted to shake my hand or give me a high five.  It was priceless! We were able to get a few photos with the children and they just swarmed us.   There was one little girl who was holding her baby brother who was about 1 ½ years old.  The little boy reached out and grabbed my Canadian Police shoulder flash and wouldn’t let go.  He then reached out and held my hand.  I wanted to stay with these kids and play with them all day.  They were so mesmerized by my presence although I was also in awe of them.  When I look at the photos I can see how happy I was to be there.  It is moments like these that I will cherish forever.

That afternoon we waited for our helicopter to arrive.  Literally you just have to wait to hear it fly over top of the compound and you jump into the truck and head to the dirt landing pad.  It was hard to say goodbye to everyone as they were so friendly.  I can’t tell you how many photos were taken within a two day time frame.  The people were so happy to have visitors and they have never had anyone from Canada before. 

We were supposed to take off at 1235hrs but got delayed again as the President of Sudan was in Nyala for the day and they would not allow anyone to fly into the town.  So we waited for over an hour before we could fly.  As I waited outside the helicopter I watched the children playing in the fields, the women riding their donkeys back to the camp after collecting firewood and camels just strolling by as if they were going for a leisurely walk.  

My helicopter just arriving into Graida.

New Year’s Eve was fairly quiet for me.  I went for my last run of 2010 around the Zam Zam camp and had dinner with my Canadian counterparts. I am sure there was some event going on up at Super Camp but due to the curfew restrictions I was not able to go.  Our Egyptian friend Mohamed invited us to his tent for Hibiscus tea and chocolates.  I think I called it a night at around 2230hrs but was awoken at around 0030hrs by several phone calls from co-workers wishing me a Happy New Year’s (I still have no idea who called me).   

2010 will be a year that I will never forget. This peacekeeping experience has been a dream come true for me and I am thankful that I have had the opportunity even though it can be very difficult at times. Now that 2010 is coming to an end I would like to wish you all the best for 2011. I hope it will be a prosperous year for all of you.

Happy New Year from Darfur!



These guys just keep getting taller!!!!!